211 N Harbor · Preliminary Budget Recommendation

The approach

Two units,
one home that runs the same way.

You do not have to be technical to live with this home. We design it, install it, program it, and show you how it works, and you have one number to call if anything is ever off.

This project brings the new unit together with your current residence. Rather than start over, we extend what you already live with into the new space: Lutron for the lighting and shades, and Sonos for the music. When the two units become one, the whole home behaves the same way, on the same apps and the same keypads.

There is one decision inside that plan, and it shapes the budget more than anything else. The lighting in the new unit can join your existing system as one continuous system, with keypads that match the ones you already have, or it can stand on its own as a separate system for the new unit. We set both out under Options, with a recommendation.

r:home is an authorized Lutron dealer. We design, program, install, and service everything we build, with one point of contact and a membership that looks after the system through your first year.

What it delivers

One way to run lighting and shades, on Lutron keypads and the Lutron app.

Lutron lighting and ten quiet motorized shades, set at consistent heights.

A professional network and strong WiFi across both units.

Music through Sonos, alongside the speakers you already have.

Invisible in-wall speakers and one clean display in the new space.

Clean, protected power behind it all.

How you'll live with it

The way you already run things.

Lighting and shades run on Lutron: tap a keypad on the wall, or use the Lutron app on your phone. Music runs on Sonos, from the same app the residence already uses. Nothing new to learn, simply extended into the new space so the combined home works one way.

Lutron keypads Lutron app Sonos app Motorized shades

There is one choice to make, and you can see it here. Continuous lighting puts the same keypad in the new unit that you already have in the residence, so the two halves read as one home. Separate unit lighting gives the new space a keypad of its own. Both control every light the same way.

Run from Lutron & SonosSee what each costs

Wired Palladiom keypad engraved Day, Evening, Nightlight — **Continuous** lightingSame keypad as the residence

Sunnata hybrid keypad at the switch bank — **Separate** unit lightingNew unit gets its own

How it gets built

Four phases, in step with construction.

The work lands in the right order, at the right moments in the build. It starts with the one part that cannot be added once the walls close again: the pre-wire in the new unit.

Where the work falls, by phase

Pre-wire 19% Head-end 4% Trim 29% Finish & commission 48%

Pre-wire

New unit, before the walls closeabout $16,900

The one phase that has to happen while the white-box walls are open. We pull every cable the new unit needs, set the backing for the invisible speakers, place the shade power panel, and set the structured-wiring enclosure that ties the space back to the residence.

Cable for lighting, shades, audio and networkBacking for the invisible speakersShade power panel and Lutron dimming panelStructured-wiring enclosureDisplay, keypad and shade locations

Head-end

Rack build, in parallelabout $3,400

The brains go in and get set up: the network gateway, the Sonos amplification, and the protected power, all wired and configured before the finish work begins.

Network gateway and switchingSonos amplificationSurge and power conditioning

Trim

After paintabout $26,300

Once the rooms are finished, the parts you see and touch go in, and the lighting system comes to life. This is where the lighting choice shows up most, because the keypads, dimming, and the programming behind them all land here.

Lutron keypads and dimmingLighting processor and programmingSpeaker grilles and wall platesNetwork terminations

Finish & commission

Final setup and handoffabout $42,900

The shades hang and get set to consistent heights, the display goes up, and the WiFi goes live. We program Lutron and Sonos, fold the existing residence in so the combined home runs one way, and close with a walkthrough so the household knows how to run it.

Ten motorized shades hung and setDisplay mounted and setWiFi access points liveLutron and Sonos programmedCalibration and orientation

All four phases, continuous lighting · pre-tax about $89,500

The same budget shown under Investment, organized by when the work happens. Separate unit lighting reduces pre-wire and trim by about $7,400 in total. Phase figures firm up at contract.

The investment

What it costs.

A preliminary budget for the scope in this proposal, with the lighting choice shown on its own two lines.

Preliminary range · pre-tax $80,000 to $94,000 Continuous lighting $87,000 to $94,000
Separate unit lighting $80,000 to $86,000

These figures reflect the current equipment list. The spread between the low and high end is mostly the lighting decision, which carries about $7,400 between the two paths. Illinois sales tax of 10.25% is additional, roughly $8,400 to $9,100 depending on the path. The remaining band leaves room for the items still to confirm on inspection, chiefly the existing lighting and its integration.

Where the budget goes, by system

Pre-tax. All figures exclude Illinois sales tax at 10.25% and freight.

The lighting decision. Only one of the two lighting lines lands in the final contract. The rest of the budget holds either way.

Membership. Your first year of r:home Essentials+ Membership is included in the figures above.

Final counts. We confirm keypad, dimmer, and shade counts and locations room by room before contract, then tighten the number.

Speakers. The audio plan uses two pairs of Sonance invisible in-wall speakers across two Sonos zones. Plaster and finish work for the invisible speakers is by others.

Not included. Decorative and architectural light fixtures, high-voltage electrical, and line-voltage fixture wiring are provided by the electrician and others. See scope below.

The decision

How the new unit's lighting joins the home.

Both options give you full Lutron control of every light in the new unit. The difference shows up on the wall. One puts the same keypad in the new unit that you already have in the residence. The other gives the new unit a keypad of its own.

Our recommendation See the keypad

Continuous lighting

$30,600 to $33,100 · total $87,000 to $94,000

The new unit joins your existing system as one continuous system, with wired Palladiom keypads that match the ones already on your walls. Dimming is centralized in a panel at the head-end rather than sitting behind each switch, so the walls stay clean and the whole combined home reads and behaves as one place. This is the option the rest of this plan is written around.

HomeWorks QSX processor · Centralized dimming panel · 10 wired Palladiom keypads

Adds about $7,400 over the separate path, and about six hours more programming.

The alternative See the keypad

Separate unit lighting

$23,400 to $25,300 · total $80,000 to $86,000

The new unit runs as its own system, with dimmers living in the switch banks where the lights are rather than in a central panel. It costs less and needs less cable, and every light still works exactly as you would expect. The trade is that the new unit stays its own system with its own keypad style, so the two halves of the home look and feel slightly different at the wall.

HomeWorks QSX processor in enclosure · 22 Sunnata dimmers at the banks · 10 hybrid keypads

Saves about $7,400, and reduces the pre-wire.

If the combined home running one way matters most, continuous lighting is the one to take, and it is the only path where the keypads match end to end. If holding the budget matters more, separate unit lighting is a sound system that we would stand behind, and it can be brought onto the main system later at additional cost.

Also worth weighing

In your plan

Motorized shades, room by room

The plan places ten motorized shades in the new unit, on the same keypads that run the lights. The same quiet shades can extend into more windows, or back into the residence, whenever you choose.

Each additional shade adds roughly $3,000 to $3,500, installed.

Optional

A second display or media zone

One display is included in the new unit. A second screen, or a small media setup, drops onto the same network and wiring we set during the pre-wire, so it is easy to add.

Quoted with the room and the screen you choose.

Scope

What we provide, and what comes from others.

Provided by r:home

All equipment listed in this recommendation, including the display and its recessed mount.
Pre-wire of the new unit while the walls are open.
Mounting, wiring, termination, programming, and commissioning.
Ten motorized shades, measured, hung, and set to consistent heights.
Integration of lighting, shades, and audio into the Lutron and Sonos systems the residence already uses.
On-site handoff and orientation, and Essentials+ Membership for year one.

Provided by others, or confirmed on inspection

The existing lighting (RadioRA 3 / HomeWorks with Palladiom keypads) and current Wi-Fi remain in place; we confirm the system and the integration path on inspection.
Decorative and architectural light fixtures, and their high-voltage wiring, by the electrician.
The final wall surface the display mounts to.
Plaster and finish work for the invisible speakers.
Structural support, conduit, and electrical boxes.
Window treatment pockets, blocking, and any drapery hardware by others.

The next step.

Timeline. Our prewire, trim-out, and commissioning land within your project schedule, so the work happens at the right moments without adding time.

Design retainer

5% of the budget's low end

$4,000, credited to your project

A design retainer takes this preliminary budget into a signed contract and detailed design, coordinated around your schedule. The lighting decision gets settled here, with both paths drawn.

What it produces

A full design and a fixed proposal

We produce a complete low-voltage design drawn over your floor plans, with every device and equipment location set room by room. That becomes a fixed, signable proposal with final pricing, and the drawings coordinate with your architect and builder so the trades work from one plan.

From there we move into scheduling and installation.

Two units,one home that runs the same way.